Porridge – please sir, we'd like some more

Once associated with the dark Dickensian days, a new report from MINTEL finds porridge is now the shining star of the modern day British breakfast.Today, hot cereals (porridge and oatmeal) are benefiting from a real revival among Britain’s health conscious consumers. Between 2003 and 2005, things really started hotting up for these humble oats when value sales increased by a massive 26%. Overall, since the start of the millennium, sales grew by an impressive 81% reaching £85 million in 2005. Meanwhile, over the same five year period, volume sales also increased by a healthy 43% with Britons munching their way through 50,000 tonnes of these oaty delights last year alone. Despite the rising popularity of single serve porridge sachets, it is interesting to see that traditional oats have also benefited from the porridge revival. In stark contrast to this, the cold cereal market grew by just 13% and 8% in value and volume terms respectively during this time.